Re: Arizona

Re: Arizona

April 4 2012, 11:32 AM

Back to Caplock's original question:

What really IS the deal with Arizona?

If you didn't see this on Jon Stewart's show the other day - this is also totally crazy. The link to the piece is there - I've never had any luck embedding Comedy Central bits. But it's worth watching in its jaw dropping "It's bad enough that some of my fellow Americans really think this way, but that there are enough of them in Arizona to get things passed in any level of Government there!" kinda way.

Here's the text of the article around the Daily Show clip in the above article:

Earlier this year, using a controversial bill signed into law by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer in 2010, the Tucson school board voted to end its Mexican American studies program. Monday on "The Daily Show," correspondent Al Madrigal traveled to Tucson to hear from advocates on both sides on the issue.

Madrigal first met with Tucson school board member Michael Hicks, a staunch proponent of the ban, who claimed that the classes promoted "radical ideas," such as the reclamation of formerly Mexican territory "by bloodshed."

When Madrigal asked for evidence supporting Hicks' allegations, Hicks explained that he hadn't actually visited any classes. "Why even go? I based my thoughts on hearsay from others," he said, perhaps not grasping the negative connotations of the word "hearsay." He also suggested that teachers had brainwashed students by feeding them burritos.

Madrigal also met with former Mexican American studies teacher Curtis Acosta, who refuted Hicks' claims. "We dont teach them to hate white people. What were trying to do is teach a more complex version of what has happened in our past." Acosta also insisted that he was not some kind of anti-American radical. "I think this is a great country. In some countries I might actually be locked up for teaching the way I have. In this country, Im just banned from doing it," he said, seemingly in earnest.

Though Tucson has banned Mexican American history classes, other ethnic studies courses remain. Hicks tried to explain the seeming inconsistency, saying that African American studies classes do not teach "the resentment of a race or class of people." But he floundered spectacularly when asked how he'd teach black students about slavery without provoking any resentment toward white people.

In the end, he settled on a misguided message of inspiration. "We now have a black man as a president. Rosa Clark did not take a gun and go onto a bus and hold up everybody," he said, presumably meaning "Rosa Parks."